Needle and Thread
by sayuki-hime
Summary: Despite being in the same high school, the two of them have never spoken. Kon's loud voice changes that for them. also because this pairing needs more love.


Characters: Kon, Ishida Uryuu, Arisawa Tatsuki, Inoue Orihime

Pairing: Ishida x Tatsuki

It was a peaceful afternoon in Karakura High School. The corridors were quiet, owing to the fact that much of the school's main population had already left the building. One student placed his bag inside the art room, shutting the sliding door behind him, dumping what seemed to be a pile of rags onto a desk.

"Stupid..." he muttered as he took out his kit. "Mangy..." Gritting his teeth, he glared at the pile of rags in front of him. "Stuffed toy!"

Kon had once again got himself torn up into shreds, and as usual, the irresponsible Kurosaki Ichigo had landed him with the unpleasant task of mending Kon. Ishida Uryuu cursed under his breath at his bad luck. "I swear one day I'll make that Kurosaki mend you on his own, you little wretch."

The stuffed lion that housed the modified soul Kon cast a wary glance at Ishida with its remaining eye. "Have a little respect for the great Kon, willya! It's not my fault that Ichigo didn't take good care of me, you know. It's hard being a modified soul in a stuffed animal's body." Struggling to what was left of his feet, Kon struck what he thought to be a heroic pose. "But I, the great Kon-sama, have braved all dangers - yeowch!"

Ishida poked Kon in the eye, before pushing up his glasses. "Not so great now, are you?" With a sigh, he opened his sewing kit. "I'm going to start!"

With a flourish, Ishida started mending the torn Kon with lightning speed and precision. In less than five minutes he was done. Kon stood on the table top, as good as new, complete with a new black and white lolita dress and matching head dress.

"Here." Ishida handed Kon a small mirror to inspect himself with. The mirror fell to the floor and shattered as Kon flew into a screaming rage over the dress.

"Ara..." The door to the art room slid open. Both Kon and Ishida glanced at the doorway and stiffened in shock as Arisawa Tatsuki stepped into the room. Kon immediately lay motionless on the desk top, the first beads of sweat appearing on his button nose as he muttered to himself, "I'm a lifeless, innocent toy, I'm a lifeless, innocent toy..." Ishida stood up, pushing up his glasses.

"Ah... Arisawa-san." The name was oddly familiar yet cumbersome on his tongue, and Ishida realized that it was probably because he had never spoken to Arisawa Tatsuki before, despite being in the same class in the same high school. Tatsuki stepped towards Ishida, barefoot and in her karate robes, staring at Kon in his lolita get-up.

"Ne, Ishida-kun..." Tatsuki glanced around, a puzzled expression on her face. "I thought there was someone else here, I heard shouting..?"

Ishida started in surprise, fumbling for an excuse. "That! That was nothing! I was... I was just complaining to myself about how I've torn the lace by accident!" Ishida frantically put himself between Tatsuki and Kon.

"Oh? That voice didn't sound like you..." Tatuski peered over Ishida's shoulder, reaching behind him and picking up Kon. "What a strange toy," she commented. "Isn't this the toy that Ichigo's always carrying around with him? What a wuss."

"It's... It's his sister's!" Ishida pushed up his glasses nervously, watching as Tatsuki poked Kon all over. _Why the hell am I covering up for that damned Kurosaki!_ Kon shot Ishida a pleading glance, begging to be rescued. "I really should return it to Kurosaki." He could feel his face growing hot, blood rushing to his cheeks and pounding in his head.

"Ah, it isn't all that interesting anyway." Tatsuki tossed Kon at Ishida, who caught it awkwardly. "So, this is the art room." She leaned against a desk, letting her gaze wander. "I've never been here before."

Ishida watched as Tatsuki absently meddled with the hem of her black belt. It wasn't the first time he had seen her in her karate uniform, and he always saw her in class with Inoue Orihime, but it was the certainly the first time he was looking at her in _that way_. "You're always welcome here, you know," he heard himself say.

Tatsuki glanced over at Ishida and grinned. "Arigato, Ishida-kun. It's nice and quiet over here."

"Indeed," Ishida mumbled, pushing up his glasses. "Erm... Hey... Arisawa-san?"

"Yeah?"

"You can spend as much time as you want here." Ishida blushed furiously, feeling his heart thumping in his chest, Kon hanging limply at his side. _Damn, that wasn't what I wanted to say._ "I'm always glad for the company." He pushed up is glasses again, which kept slipping down his nose.

Tatsuki looked pleasantly surprised, and was about to say something when Inoue Orihime poked her head into the art room.

"Ah, Tatsuki-chan! There you are!" Orihime came in and grabbed Tatsuki's hand. "I've got a nice bean paste cake for you to try!" She grinned broadly.

"Hai, hai, Orihime. Let's go." Tatsuki smiled back at the orange-haired girl, shrugging at Ishida. "See you around, Ishida-kun."

"Goodbye, Ishida-kun!" Orihime called as she dragged Tatsuki off.

_I never got to say what I wanted._

At his side, Kon gave Ishida a little poke. "You like the girl, don't you?"

Embarrassed and furious, Ishida whacked Kon hard on the head. "Shut up. Let's go find Kurosaki."


End file.
